Malian strongman Colonel Assimi Goita returned home on Monday after West African leaders condemned a second coup that cemented his grip on power, calling on him to name a new prime minister but stopping short of reimposing sanctions. At a crisis summit in Ghana on Sunday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) decided to suspend Mali from the 15-nation bloc and urged Goita to appoint a new civilian premier and forge a new.
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The arrests were orchestrated by Vice President Assimi Goita, who led last year s coup that overthrew former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They resigned, their release was scheduled, we have nothing against them, said Goita aide Baba Cissa.
Ndaw and Ouane s whereabouts will be kept secret to protect their security, Cissa told Reuters. He declined to detail any plans for their replacement.
Goita ordered their arrest after a cabinet reshuffle in which two fellow coup leaders were sacked from their posts.
He has promised that next year s elections will go ahead. But on Thursday his legal advisor Youssouf Coulibaly suggested this commitment was not set in stone.
Military officers in Mali detained the president, prime minister and defence minister of the interim government on Monday, deepening political chaos just months after a military coup ousted the previous president, multiple sources told Reuters.
President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane and defence minister Souleymane Doucoure were all taken to a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako, hours after two members of the military lost their positions in a government reshuffle, the diplomatic and government sources said.
Their detentions followed the military ouster in August of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The development could exacerbate instability in the West African country where violent Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State control large areas of the desert north.
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Highlights
Military officers in Mali detained the president, prime minister and defence minister of the interim government on May 24.
Their detentions followed the military ouster in August of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
BAMAKO: Military officers in Mali detained the president, prime minister and defence minister of the interim government on Monday, deepening political chaos just months after a military coup ousted the previous president, multiple sources told Reuters.
President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and defence minister Souleymane Doucoure were all taken to a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako, hours after two members of the military lost their positions in a government reshuffle, the diplomatic and government sources said.